Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Glymur
Bones on display in the museum.
RSU Anatomy Museum
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The Phono Museum features decades of different sound technology.
Phono Museum Paris
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Ivan the Terra Bus
The Bus, the Myth, the Legend: Ivan the Terra Bus
Pigeons were included in a series of 1891 illustrations entitled “Household Pets.”
What Makes a Pest a Pest?
Burros Alfa and Beto, seen here with Luis Soriano in 2008, have been helping the teacher deliver books for more than 20 years.
How One Man and His ‘Biblioburro’ Spreads Literacy in Rural Colombia
Price Tower
What Happened to Price Tower, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Only Skyscraper?

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Mexico Cuatrociénegas Mina de Mármol
AO Edited

Mina de Mármol

A former travertine mine traces the geological history of this unique desert filled with crystalline blue pools.

Cuatrociénegas, Mexico

Added By
Edward Woolley
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Mina de Mármol   edwardwoolley / Atlas Obscura User
the sun and stone   edwardwoolley / Atlas Obscura User
Mina de Mármol   edwardwoolley / Atlas Obscura User
Mina de Mármol   edwardwoolley / Atlas Obscura User
Mina de Mármol   edwardwoolley / Atlas Obscura User
Mina de Mármol   edwardwoolley / Atlas Obscura User
Dinosaurs once inhabited the region.   edwardwoolley / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

This former travertine mine makes for the perfect lookout across the arid Cuatrociénegas Valley, especially at sunset. Here the sun pours down upon five large stones painting them golden against a backdrop of towering mountains and wide open desert.

The exposed travertine blocks reveal the valley's unique geological history. The blocks' striations show evidence from ice ages, desert climates, and tropical climates. Long streaks in the stone's surface are believed to be fossils of palm tree leaves, dating back to when the region was lush and green—a time when dinosaurs roamed the central Mexican Plateau while the sea covered the low-lying lands towards the Pacific and the Gulf. 

The majority of the stone is plain, indicative of the region's arid desert. Occasionally horizontal streaks of rocks break this pattern indicating where an ice age occurred. During an ice age, water would have dragged these stones down from the mountaintops and deposited them downstream. Therefore these patterns of plain stone interspersed with horizontal streaks of rocks, chronicle the ice ages throughout the valley's history.

These geological formations are not only a window into the past, but an explanation of the present: Cuatrociénegas's remarkable crystalline blue pools are a remnant of these long-ago ice ages. Water from the ice ages found its way into the mountains and subsoils. However, water doesn't stay still; it moves. Over time the water flowed through an underground network of tunnels and up through the springs that feed the sparkling blue pools.

There are over 250 of these blue pools across the valley, including Poza Azul, Las Playitas, and Los Mezquites. However, to understand how and why these pools formed, visit Mina de Marmol, and appreciate the region's geological history recorded in stone. The ice ages were and still are the source of the valley's crystalline blue wonders. 

Related Tags

Natural Wonders Pools Geological Oddities Geology Desert Rock Formations Rocks Abandoned Mines
Atlas Obscura Adventures

Yucatan: Astronomy, Pyramids & Mayan Legends

Mayan legends, ancient craters, lost cities, and stunning constellations.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

edwardwoolley

Published

May 10, 2023

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/i/Ice_age.htm#:~:text=Geological%20evidence%20for%20ice%20ages,or%20tillites%20and%20glacial%20erratics.
  • https://www.science.org/content/article/pools-mexican-desert-are-window-earth-s-early-life
  • https://www.zonaturistica.com/que-hacer/coahuila/cuatro-cienegas/mina-de-marmol
  • https://youtu.be/GtYhCmpnTy0?t=1139
Mina de Mármol
Cuatrociénegas
Cuatrociénegas, 27656
Mexico
26.810172, -102.151057
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Dunas de Yeso

Cuatrociénegas, Mexico

miles away

El Río Mezquites

Cuatrociénegas, Mexico

miles away

Poza Azul

Cuatrociénegas, Mexico

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cuatrociénegas

Cuatrociénegas

Mexico

Places 5

Nearby Places

Dunas de Yeso

Cuatrociénegas, Mexico

miles away

El Río Mezquites

Cuatrociénegas, Mexico

miles away

Poza Azul

Cuatrociénegas, Mexico

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cuatrociénegas

Cuatrociénegas

Mexico

Places 5

Related Places

  • Looking Glass Rock seen from the Looking Glass Rock Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

    Brevard, North Carolina

    Looking Glass Rock

    This granite rock face is named for the magnificent reflection that occurs when the sun hits it just right.

  • Bonhomme de Bourail

    Bourail, New Caledonia

    Bonhomme de Bourail

    A beachside monolith shaped by years of waves crashing against hard quartz.

  • The Devil’s Nest.

    Nokia, Finland

    Pirunpesä (The Devil's Nest)

    This honeycomb-textured tafone looks like a petrified troll head.

  • Sculptured rocks.

    Hebron, New Hampshire

    Sculptured Rocks

    This narrow canyon has been carved by the river over thousands of years into spectacular and curious forms.

  • Similar rock formations cover other parts of the hill

    Cusco, Peru

    Rodadero Slides

    Did Inca children also slide down these smooth rocky slopes above Cusco?

  • The Mountain Sphinx.

    Bușteni, Romania

    The Mountain Sphinx

    Conspiracy theories and occult legends surround this mysterious natural rock formation.

  • Hřensko, Czechia

    Pravčická brána (Pravčice Gate)

    Europe's largest natural bridge has a 19th century royal chateau built into its side.

  • Pyramids of Euseigne

    Hérémence, Switzerland

    Pyramides d'Euseigne

    These spindly, stone-capped formations are the product of glacial deposits and thousands of years of erosion.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.